1 vs 100

What’s the Story?

1 VS 100 is a tense, trivia-based game show that pits a solo player against a group of 100. Both the contestant and the "mob" answer identical questions -- for each member of the mob who answers a question incorrectly, the contestant receives a certain amount of money, and the erring mob member is eliminated (if the contestant answers incorrectly, he or she is axed immediately). When the contestant eliminates all 100 players (nearly impossible to do, especially with ringers like Jeopardy legend Ken Jennings in the mob), he or she wins $1 million. The members of the mob have something at stake in the game, too. When the main contestant is eliminated, the remaining members of the mob split the winnings accrued to that point -- so they want the contestant to win as much money as possible before getting eighty-sixed.

Is It Any Good?

TV veteran Bob Saget hosts the show, sporting the same impassive attitude he had on America's Funniest Home Videos. At times he seems a little bored, but this lack of enthusiasm is more than made up for by the contestants' fist-pumping, high-fiving, bunny rabbit-jumping antics.

Reminiscent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, 1 vs 100 takes every opportunity to stretch tension to a near breaking point -- typically when players have risked a giant pot of money for the chance to win more. As on Millionaire and Jeopardy, it's fun for viewers to guess the answers, but unlike the other shows, the questions on 1 vs 100 rarely call for much beyond average general interest knowledge. Part of the appeal of trivia games is seeing people surprise you with their brains; 1 vs 100 seems more designed for the average Joe. (That must be why Jennings looks a bit glassy eyed throughout the game.)